Attachment for keyed musical instruments.



PATBNTBD AUG.. 4,1908.

J. PARDUBA. ATTACHMENT FOR KEYED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APYLIGATION FILED DEO. 4, 1907.

Q 7 co: I 4 I -7 PATBNTED AUG. 4,; 1903." J. PARDUBA. 1 ATTACHMENT FORKEYED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4, 1907.

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"mm sca -ms PATENT oFFicn JOHS PARDUBA, OF NEW YORK, Y.

ATTACIMENT FOR KEYED MUSICAL'INSTB-UIIENTS;

Application filed December 4,1907; Serial a. 405,058.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN PARDCBA, a citizen of the Empire of Austria,residing inNew York, in the borough of the Bronx, county and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements inAttachments for Keyed h usical Instruments, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to an attachment for keyed musical instruments,and more especially to an attachment for the keyed zither for whichLetters Patent were granted to me on April 30, 1901, N 0. 673.027, the9.1;-

tachment being designed for permitting any one, without knowledge ofmusical notation, to play the instrument and thereby enjoy the playingof musical pieces ither for amusement or as a preparation for the moreserious study of playing a keyed instrument; and for zthis' purpose theinvention consists of an attachment for keyed musical instruments,j-which com rises an endless note-sheet which is inounte on adriving-roll support-ed back of the key-board, means for rotating thedrivingsroll by means of a key-bar below the keys 9f the instrument, anda key-plate arran ed in front of the driving-roll and iv-v oted with atransverse slot through wiich the notations on the endless note-sheetare visible.

The invention consists further of the special mechanism by which thedriving-roll and the note-sheet are 0 erated by the depression of thekeys, illlt lastly of certain additional details of construction whichwill be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan-view of myimproved attachment for keyed musical instruments shown with thenote-sheet placed in position, Fig. 2 is a front-elevation of the same,Fig. 3 a side-elevation, Fig. 4 a vertical longitudinal section on line4, 4, Fig. 1- and Fig. 5 is a detail transverse section of the key-boardand the note-sheet actuating mechanism, drawn on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-. sponding parts throughoutthe several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a keyed musical instrument,preferably the keyed zither for which the stem: hereinbefore referred towas granter to me- B is a bridge which extends transversely across thestrings at the front-part of the instrument,

Specification of-Letters Patent. I

out back of the keyboard C. The leading keys D of the keyboard arepreferabl arranged according to the chromatic sea e for anynumber ofoctaves, while a number of keys D at the lefthand side of the keyboardserve for playing the harmonic chords for accompanying the melody layedon the leading keys. Below all the 'eys D D and transversely thereto isarranged a feltcovered key-bar E which is sus ended by upright arms efrom the horizonta arms f of a frame F which is ivoted to earsf attachedto the rear-end of t 1e bridge B. The arms f of the frame F are actuatedby suitable springs f 2 so as to hold the key-bar in contact with theunderside of the keys.\

A driving-roll G is supported in perforated ears 9 on the bridge B, theshaft of the roll being provided at one end with aratchetwheel g which1s engaged by a spring-actupatented Aug. 4, 1908.

ated pawl g that is pivoted to the up er end of an upright arm or )0st gwhich is ocated on the adjacent arm 1 of the frame F, so that on everydepression of a key the pivoted and s ring-actuated awl engages one ofthe teeth oi the ratchet-w reel of the driving-roll and rotates therebythe driving-roll for the distance of one tooth. engages the lower partof the ratchet-wheel g secures the taking of one tooth after the otherof the ratchet-wheel and controls the regular step by step motion of thesame. At the rear of the driving-roll is supported on the cover of theinstrument a guide-roll 1', over which and the driving-roll G an endlessThe ends of the vided with headed studs which are supported in thehook-shaped upper ends of sprin arms 1 1 which are attachedat theirlower em 3 to a hinged plate r so that the arms can be folded down on atransverse strip whichis adjusted by means of clamping screws 1" in alongitudinal guide-slot a in the cover of the instrument, as shown inFig. 4.

A check-pawl g which The endless note-sheet n is pro 'ded with ordinarymusical notes, or with arbitrarilyselccted dots. or other notation whichare arranged in arallel lines on the sheet and which are visible in thetransverse longitudinal slot h of a key-plate H that is hinged by itsrear-part to the bridgeBso' as to be folded back over the same. \Yhenitis required for use it is lifted up and placed against the notesheetafter the same has been placed in position over the driving-roll G andguide-roll r,

i i x l so that the parallel nota OllS on the same can be read offthrough the slot in the keypla-te H. By the line. of-notation visiblethrough the slot of the keyplate, the leading keys to'be played areindicated, while the aceo'm )anying chords are indicated by numberswhich correspond'to the numbers of the harmonic chord-keys D on theleft-hand side of the instrument. The key-barjEcan be lowered so asnot-to engage the keys I) and D by means of a pivoted locking hook i,which is placed in engagement with a i in i on the arm f of the pivotedframe F as s io'wn in Figs. 1 to 3.

N etc-sheets corresponding to any song or piece of music are furnishedand sold either with the instrument, or independently therefrom toparties who have already an instrument. he endless note-sheet is mountedon the driving-roll and on the which latter is placed into the hoo -shaed supporting ends of the spring-arms r so t at the required degree oftautness is imparted to the endless note-sheet. When a sheet of morethan ordinary length is required, the transverse spring-supporting armsare moved backwardly in the guide-slot of the instrument until therequired degree of tautness is obtained. The key-plate is then placed inposition over the front-part of the note-sheet so that successively, asthe piece is played, one notation after'the other appears in the slot ofthe key-plate by the action of the awl and ratchet mechanism operated bythe eys and key-bar, and is thereby played mechanically by depressingthe leading keys and chord keys corresponding to the difierent notationmarks. In this manner, with little practice, any tune represented by thenotereet can be played by the layer, who is not required to know anyting about music, as he simply follows mechanically the prescribed signson the note-sheet, at the same time pl ing not only the leading notes,but also the chords accompanying the same.

hen the playing is to be discontinued, the note-sheet is removed fromthe drivingroll and the guide-roll, the driving-roll restrument.

maining in position in its supporting bearings, while the guide-roll isremoved from the arms and placed in the case of the instrument, thespring-arms being folded down on the transverse strip on the cover ofthe in- The note-sheet is then rolled up and stored in the case of theinstrument, together with the guide-roll, ready for the next use of theinstrument. hen the instrument is to be used again, the springarms forthe guide-roll are raised and the guide-roll placed in position thereon,after which the endless note-sheet is placed around the driving-roll andthe guide-roll. The key-plate is then placed in position in front of thenotesheet and the instrument is ready for playing. it permits theplaying of music by any person without any knowledge of music, and

'forms not 0111 an amusement to music lovers generally, butl also anincitement to the learn mg of the playing of a keyed musical instrument.The key-plate is marked on the faceside with the notation of thechromatic scale,

likewise the keys, so that the ordinarykeys aswell as the chromaticscale can be learned by the player.

When the instrument is to be played from ordinary notes, or when atune'is desired to be played from memorv, then the key-bar E is lockedinto the lowermost position and so as not to be depressed by the keys inwhlch case the note-street s either not used at all, or held in positionon its driving and guide-rolls without being set in motion bythe actionof the keys.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters means for movmg saidnote-sheet oncvery depression of the keys, and a key-plate located infront of the note-sheet and provided with a longitudinal slot forreading off the notations on the sheet while playing the keys indicatedthereon.

held therein bythe pivot-hook 1' and pin '1'), 4

2. The combination, with a keyed musical instrument, of a keyboardcontaining leading keys and accompanying chord-keys, a driving-rolllocated adjacent to the leading keys, a guide-roll for the rear part ofthe notesheet, means for imparting step-by-step motion to thedriving-roll at each depression of guide roll, an endless note s ieetplaced around the driving-roll and guide-roll, and a key-plate having alongitudinal slot located in front of the note-sheet.

3. The combination, with a keyed musical instrument, of a keyboardcontaining leading keys and accompanying chord-keys, a driving-rolllocated adjacent to the leading keys, means for imparting a step-by-stepmotion to the driving-roll at each depression of the keys, a guide-rollat the rear of the drivingroll, spring-arms for supporting saidguideroll, an endless note-sheet placed around the driving-roll andguide-roll, a transverse bar supporting the spring-arms, means foradjustmg the spring-arms on the cover of the instrument for adjustingthe tension of the note-sheet, and a key-plate having a longitudinalslot located in front of the note-sheet.

4. The combination, with a keyed musical instrument, of a key-boardcomposed of leadingkeys and accompanying chord-keys, at

key-bar extending transversely below the keys, a pivoted andspring-actuated frame 105 the keys, spring-arms for sup ortmg said t aguide-roll supported back provided with downwardly-eXt-ending frontarmsfor suspending the key-bar, a drivingroll located adjacent to theleading keys, a pawl and ratchet-mechanism between the driving-roll andthe key bar supporting frame for imparting a step-by-step motion to thedriving-roll at each depression of the key,

of the drivingroll, an endless note-sheet extending around the drivingand guide-rolls, means for adj usting the tension of the note-sheet, anda key-plate arranged in front of the note-sheet and above the keys andprovided with a longitudinal slot for permitting the reading off of thenotations on the note-sheet.

5. The combination, with a keyed musical instrument, of a key-boardcomposed of leading keys and chord-keys, a key-bar extendingtransversely below the keys, a pivoted and spring-actuated frameprovided with downwardly extending front arms c0nnected with thekey-bar, and means between JOHN PARDUBL Witnesses v 7 PAUL GOEPEL,

Y HENRY J. SUHRBIER.

